185K enroll under expanded Medicaid

COLUMBUS -- Roughly 185,000 Ohioans have enrolled in Medicaid under an expansion of the taxpayer-funded program.

Gov. John Kasich's administration moved forward last fall with extending Medicaid eligibility to cover thousands more people under the federal health overhaul. Coverage took effect Jan. 1.

Ohio's monthly report on Medicaid caseloads shows that 184,671 people have gained coverage through the extension as of April 30. That's more than half of the 366,000 newly eligible residents estimated to sign up by June 2015.

The expansion allows those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level to gain coverage.

For a single adult, that's about $16,000 annually.

Officials say more than 546,000 people have applied for Medicaid through the state's new benefits website since Oct. 1.